Twin packaging line and metering system

ABSTRACT

A packaging machine comprising two independent paths ( 26, 28 ) upon which articles (C) to be contained by a carton ( 6 ) are conveyed from an infeed end ( 56 ) to an integral tertiary packaging device ( 12, 24 ). Cartons directly output from said two independent paths are merged and combined with a tertiary package ( 8 ), the tertiary packages are conveyed along a transfer means out of said tertiary packaging device travelling at a speed the same as that of each of the two independent paths ( 26, 28 ).

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to packaging of primary articles, such as cans orbottles, in multiple packaged cartons. More particularly, but notexclusively, the invention relates to an apparatus and method ofpackaging articles conveyed in more than one adjacent streamssimultaneously; an apparatus for and method of metering and groupingarticles conveyed in two lines in more than one adjacent streams; apackaging line incorporating such a metering system and including anintegrated tertiary packaging system and quaternary wrapping system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the field of packaging it is required to provide adaptable machinesthat are capable of packaging a variety of types of primary article,such as cans and bottles, into secondary packages (cartons) that containor hold together an array of articles in a multipack. It is known toprovide such multipacks to subsequent sub-assemblies for collating anumber of multipacks or cartons into a tertiary package. Furthermore itis known to provide groups of such tertiary packages to yet a furthersubsequent sub-assembly for collating a number of such tertiary packagesand wrapping them into palletised load for distribution to retailoutlets.

In the interests of economic and efficient packaging, it is required toachieve the highest throughput of cartons and wrapped tertiary packagesas possible. The linear size of a packaging line; the types of article;and the type of carton that can be accommodated by a packaging line arealso important considerations as well as the wear on the machine. Higherthroughputs can be achieved if machine lines can be run faster; howeverthis is not always possible when manipulation of cartons introducescomplexities that limit the run-speed. Additionally, running athigh-speeds can cause components of a machine to suffer wear and damagedue to friction and heat. This in turn can cause down time to thepackaging machine and potentially the entire bottling line as well ascostly repair to the machines. It is therefore advantageous to optimisemachine output in other ways than simply increasing the machinerun-speed. In fact because of the wear, friction and heat damage thatcan be caused, it is desirable to run machines at slower speeds withoutcompromising the throughput of packaged articles.

Many known machines are capable only of packaging one type of carton andbottling plants can be required to use a plurality of machines topackage different carton types; each machine takes up considerable floorspace and can be expensive to purchase and operate. It is thereforedesirable to have packaging machines that are adaptable foraccommodating a variety of articles; carton types and carton sizes. Itis also desirable to minimise the linear size of packaging machines toreduce the amount of floor space occupied.

The present invention seeks to provide a number of advantages orimprovements in the field of packaging.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

According to a first aspect, the invention provides a packaging machinecomprising at least two independent paths upon which primary articles tobe contained by a secondary carton are conveyed from an infeed end ofthe packaging machine to an integral tertiary packaging device whereinsecondary cartons directly output from said two independent paths aremerged and combined with a tertiary package characterised in thattertiary packages are conveyed along a transfer means out of saidtertiary packaging device travelling at a speed the same as that of eachof the paths upon which incoming primary articles are disposed.

Preferably the packaging machine comprises a device for groupingarticles operable to interact with articles on each path simultaneously.Optionally, the device for grouping articles disposed between twoadjacent ones of said paths, for grouping and metering primary articlesconveyed on each of the two paths simultaneously.

Additionally, or alternatively, the packaging machine comprises atransfer conveyor for supplying a tertiary article to the tertiarypackaging device for combination with the processed articles beingmerged, the transfer conveyor having an infeed end disposed above orbelow a horizontal plane containing said two paths and being inclinedsuch that an output end of the transfer conveyor is disposed between andin substantially co-planar alignment with said two paths whereat theprocessed articles are merged and combined with the tertiary article.

Optionally, a finishing device is disposed upstream of said tertiarypackaging device, the finishing device being structured and arranged toreceive articles directly output from the tertiary packaging device, andto convey finished packages out of said finishing device along atransfer means travelling at the same speed as each of the paths uponwhich incoming primary articles are disposed.

Optionally the packaging machine comprises means for supply of secondarypackages to each of the two paths for combination with the primaryarticles; a means for supply of tertiary packages for combination withthe primary articles and secondary packages, the means of supply of thetertiary package being up stream of the means for supply of thesecondary article; and a single loading device operable to load, inturn, secondary packages and tertiary packages to the respective meansfor supplying secondary and tertiary articles.

Accordingly, a second aspect of the invention provides, a device forgrouping articles to be contained by a secondary carton, the devicecomprising a first series of spacer elements arranged to move along apre-determined path, each spacer element operable to engage at least onearticle from a first infeed stream and to convey articles through aworking reach of the device, the device further comprising a secondseries of spacer elements arranged to move along a similarpre-determined path, each spacer element of the second series operableto engage at least one article from a second infeed stream of articles,characterised in that a spacer element of the first series of spacerelements is coupled to a spacer element of the second series of spacerelements by a drive means such that the coupled spacer elements areconveyed at the same speed.

Preferably, the spacer elements of the first and second series aredisposed back-to-back and operate on separate streams of primaryarticles disposed on separate independent conveyors to synchronise theprocessing of primary articles on said separate independent conveyorssuch that primary articles processed by the device as they are conveyedon each of said separate independent conveyors are similarly grouped andmetered and output from the output end of their respective separateindependent conveyor in synchrony.

Optionally, spacer elements of the first series are coupled to spacerelements of the second series in pairs by means of a common bar and saidpairs of spacer elements structured and arranged to follow a cam-path ofthe device to control and synchronise their journey through the workingreach of the device.

According to a third aspect, the invention provides a loading device forsupplying articles such as blanks to a machine for processing thosearticles, the loading device comprising a loading mechanism (70), aconveyor (32) for supplying pallets loaded with articles (8); a conveyor(36) for removal of empty pallets (4) and a first pallet lift (38)wherein the conveyor (32) for supplying pallets loaded with articles (8)is disposed in substantially parallel alignment with the conveyor forremoval of empty pallets such that full pallets are deliverable as emptypallets are removable.

Optionally, the loading device further comprises a second conveyor forsupplying loaded pallets and a second pallet lift, wherein the sameloading mechanism is also operable to take articles from a loaded palleton the second conveyor and supply them to another in-feed point of apackaging machine and wherein the second pallet lift is operable to movea pallet from the second conveyor for supplying pallets to the saidconveyor for removal of empty pallets, which conveyor for removal ofempty pallets services both the first and second conveyors for supplyingloaded pallets.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Exemplary embodiments of the invention will now be described withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGS. 1A and 1B show exemplary carton packages constructed by apackaging machine according to a first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of an exemplary packaging line accordingto a first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 shows an enlarged view of an infeed end of the packaging line ofFIG. 2;

FIG. 4 shows an enlarged view of a metering mechanism and carton formingsection of the packaging line of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 shows a zoomed in view of the carton infeed, carton forming andmetering mechanism shown in FIGS. 2-4;

FIG. 6 shows an enlarged view of the metering mechanism of the packagingline of FIG. 1 and

FIG. 7 shows an enlarged view of a tertiary packaging section of thepackaging line of FIG. 1.

For ease of reference to the features shown in the drawings, a list offeatures and their corresponding reference numeral is provided below:

Reference Reference numeral Feature numeral Feature X Direction oftravel of articles 50 Second hopper for carton blanks and packages onpackaging line C Primary articles 52 Lift for case packer blanks 4 Emptypallet (used for tertiary 54 Hopper for tertiary blanks carton blanks) 6tertiary carton blanks 56 infeed end 8 secondary carton blanks 58 rotaryvacuum mechanism 10 Packaging Line 60 Suction cups 12 tertiary cartoninfeed 62 Star wheel mechanism 14 finishing device 64 Grouping mechanism16 auto-loading assembly 66 Delay mechanism 18 Transfer robot 68Finishing mechanism 20 Robot rotator 70 Loading mechanism 24 secondarypackage to tertiary 72 Lifting arm package loading section 26 Firstconveyor 74 former 28 Second conveyor 76 Single lug 30 pallet loadedwith secondary 78 Tertiary blank conveyor carton blanks 32 Conveyor forsupplying a full 80 Completed secondary package pallet of secondarycarton blanks 34 Conveyor for supplying full 82 Group of two pairs ofcompleted pallet of tertiary carton blanks secondary packages 36Conveyor for empty pallets 84 Outer endless drive means 38 First palletlift 86 inner endless drive means 40 Second pallet lift 88 Spacerelements 42 first stream of primary articles 90 bars 44 Second stream ofprimary 92 Cam path articles 46 pallet loaded with tertiary 94 Outergrouping mechanism carton blanks 48 First hopper for carton blanks 96Inner grouping mechanism

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

A packaging line of the present invention will be described with generalreference to each of the FIGS. 2-7. The present invention provides forthe efficient packaging of primary articles such as cans or bottles (C)into secondary cartons, such as the exemplary top-gripping clips 8 a, 8b (as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B) by utilising two incoming streams ofarticles. The articles on each incoming stream are processedsimultaneously thus doubling the output compared to a single articlestream packaging machine running at an equivalent linear speed.

The packaging line 10 of the present invention is shown in FIG. 2. Thepackaging line comprises an infeed end generally denoted by reference56; an auto-loading assembly generally denoted by 16 for loadingsecondary carton blanks 8 and tertiary carton blanks 6; a tertiarycarton infeed mechanism, generally denoted by reference 12; a secondarypackage 8 to tertiary package 6 loading section generally denoted byreference 24 and a finishing device 14.

The packaging line 10 accommodates primary articles C conveyed in twostreams on a first conveyor 26 and accommodates primary articles Cconveyed in two streams on a second conveyor 28. The first and secondconveyors, 26, 28 receive, at one end, primary articles C from theoutput end of a bottling or filling line and deliver the articles C, attheir other end to the infeed end 56 of the packaging line 10. Theconveyors 26, 28 may be of adjustable width to enable a variety ofarticles C (such as 330 ml cans to 500 ml bottles) to be accommodated bythe packaging line. In a preferred embodiment, each of the first andsecond conveyors 26, 28 is sized to accommodate two primary articles Cside-by-side. A first stream of primary articles C is denoted in FIG. 3by reference 42 and a second stream of primary articles C is denoted by44. Secondary cartons 8 a and 8 b are structured to accommodate four andsix cans C arranged in 2×2 and 2×3 configurations respectively. It willbe realised upon reading the following description with reference to thedrawings that the secondary packaging clips 8 a and 8 b are illustrativeexamples of secondary packages or secondary carton wrappers and it isenvisaged that the packaging machine of the present embodiment and otherembodiments can accommodate different types of secondary packages, (moregenerally indicated in FIGS. 2-8 by reference numeral 8) for containing,as well as cans, other primary articles such as bottles and for exampleplastic dairy pots. Such primary articles may be contained in thesecondary cartons in variety of configurations. The direction of travelof the primary articles C is denoted by arrow ‘X’.

To consistently provide secondary carton blanks 8 and tertiary cartonblanks 6 (see FIG. 3) to first and second carton hoppers 48, 50 andtertiary carton lift 52 and tertiary carton hopper 54, an auto-loadingassembly 16 is provided. The auto-loading assembly 16 is most clearlyshown in FIG. 3. The auto-loading assembly 16 comprises a loadingmechanism 70, a conveyor 32 for supplying pallets loaded with secondarycarton blanks 8; a conveyor 34 for supplying pallets loaded withtertiary carton blanks 6; a conveyor 36 for removal of empty pallets 4;a first pallet lift 38 and a second pallet lift 40.

The auto-loading assembly 16 is compact and therefore minimises theamount of floor space required to supply pallets loaded with secondaryand tertiary carton blanks 30, 38. Additionally, by automating thisprocess, the need for an operator is alleviated. The auto-loadingassembly 16 operates by the conveyors 32 and 34 supplying pallets 30loaded with secondary carton blanks 8 and pallets 46 loaded withtertiary carton blanks 6 respectively. At the end of each conveyor 32,34 a lift 40, 38 is provided. When a lift 40, 38 is not holding a pallet30, 46, a loaded pallet 30, 46 is supplied by the appropriate conveyor32, 34. The loaded pallet 30, 46 is in this embodiment moved from theend of the supply conveyor 32, 34 onto the associated adjacent lift 40,38 by the loading mechanism 70. In other embodiments a transfer meansconnected to the lift 40, 38 is used to transfer a pallet 30 loaded withsecondary carton blanks 8 and pallets 46 loaded with tertiary cartonblanks 6 to the associated lift 40, 38.

Once a pallet 30 loaded with secondary carton blanks 8 and/or a pallet46 loaded with tertiary carton blanks 6 is disposed on a lift 40, 38,the loading mechanism 70 (fitted with an articulated lifting arm 72)picks up a stack of blanks 8 or 6 using an articulating lifting arm 72and loads the blanks 8; 6 onto the appropriate hopper 48/50 or 52respectively. Once sufficient loading repetitions have been completedand a pallet emptied of secondary or tertiary carton blanks 6, 8, thelift 40, 38 holding the empty pallet 4 is lowered substantially to thesame height as the conveyor for empty pallets 36. The empty pallet istransferred, in this embodiment by the loading mechanism onto theconveyor for empty pallets 36 which is operable to remove the emptypallet(s) away from the auto-loading assembly 16. The pallet conveyors32, 34, 36 are controlled using a programmable logic controller andtherefore no human operator of the machine is required in this area.

The outward conveyor 36 for removal of empty pallets 4 is disposed belowthe conveyor 34 for supplying pallets 46 loaded with tertiary cartonblanks 6. This means that the supply and removal mechanism areaccommodated within the same floor space and thereby minimise the amountof floor space required to supply loaded pallets and remove loadedpallets. This compact solution reduces the area required by thepackaging line 10.

It is envisaged that in other embodiments, the outward conveyor 36 isdisposed below the other conveyor 32 for supplying pallets 30 loadedwith secondary cartons 8. In yet a further embodiment, both inwardsupply conveyors 34, 32 have their own outward conveyor 36. However, itis most advantageous to require only one outward conveyor 36 servicingthe two inward conveyors 32, 34. A further advantage of the presentinvention is gained because the tertiary carton lift 5 and tertiarycarton hopper 54 are disposed within operable reach of the loadingmechanism 70. The loading mechanism 70 can supply blanks 8 to bothhoppers 48, 50 for the secondary blanks and to the tertiary carton lift52 that in turn supplies the tertiary carton hopper 54. The compactnature of the loading mechanism 70 and its versatility enables theefficient supply of blanks 6, 8 to the packaging line. In knownpackaging machines a tertiary packaging assembly is provided as aseparate assembly to the secondary packaging assembly or is provided sofar down stream of the supply for the secondary blanks that separatetertiary blank 6 supply is required. Beneficially, the packaging line ofthe present invention is structured and arranged such that the supplyand infeed of the secondary carton blanks is situated in close proximityto the supply and infeed of tertiary carton blanks and therefore asingle loading mechanism 70 can efficiently serve them both, thusincreasing efficiency (by virtue of requiring less components and/ormachine operators) and a more compact packaging line 10.

Meanwhile, the two incoming streams of articles 42, 44 are supplied withregular line pressure by star wheels 62. Star wheels are known in theart for regulating article flow. In this embodiment four star wheels areused on for each side of each incoming stream of articles 42, 44. Inother embodiments where one or each stream comprises only a single lineof articles the number of star wheels may be reduced. In an alternativeembodiment, where greater than two incoming streams of articles areaccommodated the number of star wheels is greater than four. In thepresent embodiment, each star wheel 62 is provided with its ownindependent driver, preferably a servo-motor. By having independentlydriven star wheels, the packaging line remains fully adjustable in orderto ensure synchronised incoming streams 42, 44.

The metering mechanism 64 (described below) groups the incoming streamsof articles 42, 44 into the required configuration. In the example beingdescribed and illustrated the secondary carton blanks 8 hold 6 articlesC in a 2×3 configuration (see FIG. 1B). The metering mechanism 64 of thepresent embodiment is operable on each side of each incoming stream ofarticles 42, 44 and separates the articles C into groups of 2×3articles.

Once the first and second hoppers 48, 50 have been supplied withsecondary carton blanks 8, and in time of the assembly of a first groupof articles C, each of the first and second hoppers 48, 50simultaneously supplies an individual blank to a rotary vacuum mechanism58 which through the use of vacuum suction cups 60 (known in the art)deposits a blank 8 simultaneously onto a group of articles C in eachincoming stream 42, 44. This is illustrated in FIG. 5. In thisillustrated embodiment, a single rotary vacuum mechanism 58 is used tosupply blanks 8 to each of the incoming streams 42, 44. This simplifiesthe processing and minimises the number of required motors. The need tosynchronise two independently driven rotary vacuum mechanisms that couldbe used, one to deposit blanks 8 on groups formed in one incoming stream42 and the other to deposit blanks 8 on groups formed in the secondincoming stream 44 is therefore alleviated. However, in an envisagedembodiment two independently driven rotary vacuum mechanisms are usedwhere each incoming stream 42, 44 comprises different articles C and C′(not shown). This optional feature whilst incorporating a slightincrease in complexity provides the advantage that the packaging line 10can offer a greater degree of flexibility.

Subsequent groups of articles are created as both streams of articles42, 44 are conveyed downstream of the infeed 56. In this embodiment thesecondary cartons are placed upon a group of articles by means of aformer 74. In other embodiments the 2×3 former is replaced with anappropriate former for the configuration of the cartons being packaged.In other embodiments a former is not used, as such a former is entirelyoptional.

The grouping mechanism will now be described with specific reference toFIG. 6. The first and second infeed streams of articles 42, 44 eachcomprising articles in side by side abutting relationship is introducedinto each infeed end of the grouping mechanism 64. As mentioned above,the line pressure of the articles C is preferably controlled by infeedstar wheels 62 as is well known. The article grouping mechanism 64groups the correct number of articles C per carton as described belowwith the mechanism also controlling the flow of articles C, so that theycan be coupled with the cartons at the same rate of carton flowdownstream of the grouping mechanism 64.

The grouping mechanism 64 comprises a grouping assembly 94 positioned oneach side of the article conveyor. Each grouping assembly 94 is similarin construction; first the outer grouping assembly 94 will be describedand then an inner grouping assembly 96 (comprising two groupingassemblies disposed in back-to-back relationship) will be described.

The assembly 96 includes a plurality of spacer elements 88 mounted on anendless conveyor comprising a spaced pair of endless chains 84. In thisembodiment, each spacer element 88 includes an engagement portioncomprising three partly cylindrical recesses, positioned adjacent oneanother. If the articles to be packaged are the same size then eachrecess has an identical length and is shaped substantially to conform toa peripheral wall portion of a bottle or can C (or other article) withwhich the recess is to engage. The spacer elements 88 can be groupedinto pairs with leading or trailing spacer elements.

Cam followers project from the underside of body portions of the spacerelements (not shown). Each spacer element 88 is connected to the endlesschains 94 by suitable attachment means. In this embodiment, the bodyportion of each element is slidably mounted on a pair of bars 98extending between and secured to the endless chains 94 (only onevisible). This arrangement permits transverse movement but prevents arotational or longitudinal movement of the spacer elements 88 withrespect to the endless chains 94.

The endless chains 94 are mounted onto guide tracks of the assembly 94.The assembly 94 further comprises a cam track 92 to receive the camfollowers extending from each spacer element 88. The endless chains 94are driven by a motor, for example a servo motor (not shown) through adrive shaft. As each spacer element 88 moves downstream along the pathof the cam track 92 the recesses are maintained in a plane parallel tothe direction of motion of the articles C on the article conveyor 26,28.

In operation continuous downstream motion of the endless chains 94causes the leading spacer element 88 to be deployed into engagement withthe articles C before a trailing spacer element, thus causing themechanism to form two groupings of articles having a maximum length ofthree articles and a relatively short pitch therebetween.

Optionally, in order that the grouping mechanisms 94, 96 can be used toproduce two groupings of between one and three articles length in theflow direction, or alternatively one grouping comprising between fourand six articles length in the article flow direction, the mechanism hasa second mode of operation.

To this end, in addition to the primary cam track 92, (that brings thespacer elements 88 into contact with the articles C to achieve thedesired grouping), a secondary cam track (not shown) is in anotherembodiment provided such that spacer elements 88 following the secondarycam track are delayed from being deployed into contact with the articlesC. An adjustment or selecting means is provided to select whether theleading spacer element 88 enters the secondary cam track according tothe particular mode of operation. A blocking member is preferablyprovided at the exit of the secondary cam track to ensure that thetrailing engagement member (not depicted) does not partially retractwhen passing the opening or catch in the opening.

The inner grouping assembly 96 has been structured and arranged tooptimize the space required by this section of the packaging line 10.The spacer elements 88 on the inner grouping assembly 88 are mountedonto each end of the double ended bars 90 that extend between and aresecured to the endless chains 86. In this way the inner groupingassembly 96 is formed from two of the outer grouping assemblies arrangedback-to-back but with the significant difference that a spacer elementis mounted onto each end of the bars 92 and only two endless chains 86are needed to drive two opposed spacer elements 88, whereas in the outergrouping assembly 94, two endless chains (or other suitable drive means)are required for only a single headed assembly. The inner assembly 96 istherefore narrower than the sum of the widths of two outer assemblies 94such that a dual ended metering system is operable between the twoprocessing streams 26 and 28. It is envisaged that in other embodimentsthe spacer elements on each side of the dual-ended metering system couldbe differently configured, arranged and/or shaped in order toaccommodate different styles of articles in each of the two lanes 42,44.

The grouping of articles C is, as described above, adaptable such thatgroups of between 1 and 6 articles can be created (for 4-6 articles adual cam track arrangement is needed and two adjacent spacing elements88 operate as a pair, this is not shown). The grouping of the articles Cis an optional feature of the general packaging line 10 and metering maybe done in other ways, however for the dual lane packaging linedescribed, the double sided grouping mechanism 96 offers a compactsolution that is adaptable to different sizes of articles and canaccommodate cartons requiring a variety of configurations. Because thegrouping mechanism 96 is narrower than the sum of the widths of twoouter assemblies 94, the overall width of the packaging line 10 is keptsufficiently narrow that collated carton groups 82 easily can betransferred onto a tertiary blank 6 (see description below).

Additionally, it is envisaged that in other embodiments, the spacingelements on one side of the grouping assembly 96 might differ in shapeand/or size than those of the other side to accommodate different typesof article being provided on the first and second processing lines 26,28. In such an embodiment the final tertiary package would contain saytwo packs of cans and two packs of bottles.

The carton package is completed by passing the grouped articles andsecondary carton through finishing mechanism 68, in this case a pair ofrollers 68 which apply pressure to each side of a package to ensure thatthe side portions of the carton have been secured in place. As discussedabove, the precise nature of the carton to be packaged is optional andas such the use of pair of rollers 68 is entirely optional. Thecompleted package 80 is then transferred to a delay mechanism comprisinga single lug 76, lug chain. As completed packages 80 are transferred tothe delay mechanism 66 the travel of a leading package 82 is slowed andan immediately trailing package catches up. The slowing of a package tocreate a group of 2 packages is achievable with a system of belts,wheels, a robot or chains with and cam path such that articles areregrouped into 2×6 articles (2 packages of articles arranged in a 2×3configuration or 3 packages arranged in a 2×2 configuration) and is notlimited to the mechanism described herein.

At the same time as the carton packages 80 are being assembled, tertiarycarton blanks 6 are transferred, along a conveyor 78 from the lift forcase packer blanks 52 onto the tertiary carton hopper 54 and thenconveyed underneath and between the grouping mechanisms of the firstincoming stream 42 and second incoming stream 44. By using two tiers,the linear dimension of the packaging line is reduced and made morecompact. The delivery of tertiary carton blanks 6 is synchronized withthe assembly of the carton packages 80 such that the tertiary cartonblanks arrive proximate the level of the grouped packages 82 and betweenthe two processing streams (see FIG. 8). Almost immediately theconstruction and grouping of a pair of packages 80 in each processingstream is completed a tertiary blank 6 is supplied to receive them. Atransfer robot 18 is provided either side of processing streams 42, 44to move the collated pair of packages 82 of each processing stream 42,44 onto the tertiary blank 6 disposed therebetween (as shown in FIG. 7).By using robots to pick and place the collated packages 82 in this waythe pitch of the packaging line 10 is maintained and the tertiarypackaging assembly is formed as an integral part of the packaging line10 without the need for conveying the finished packages 82 to a separatesub-assembly for transferring the collated secondary packages to atertiary package.

In an optional final step in the processing carried out by the packagingline 10 described, the tertiary packages are transferred by a rotatorrobot 20 and transferred to a finishing device, in this embodiment ashrink wrapping device.

The construction of the carton 8 as illustrated in the Figures providesan illustration of how the benefits of the present invention can beapplied to a specific secondary carton formation and tertiary packaginginto a crate. It is envisaged that cartons formed by a different seriesof sequential folding operations, preferably in a straight line machine,could be assembled by a packaging machine according to the inventionwithout necessarily involving the grouping, forming and finishing stepsdescribed. As such the invention should not be construed as beinglimited in application to the specific carton or article types describedor folding and construction process described and these aspects may bealtered according to particular manufacturing requirements.

Upon reading the foregoing it will be understood that the presentinvention provides improvements in the field of packaging machinery. Ina known single line packaging machine, articles are collated using asecondary clip, the grouped articles are then transferred along aconveyor to a second in-line sub-assembly, a divider, where the singleline is split so that two side-by-side packages can be transferred to athird in-line sub assembly. Tertiary package blanks are supplied to thethird in-line subassembly and the secondary packages are loaded into thetertiary packs which are then conveyed along to a fourth in-linesubassembly where shrink wrap finishing is conducted. The average lengthof such a machine is 300 m, whereas the aforedescribed packaging line ofthe present invention is only 120 m. The single line machine is known torun at an average linear operational speed of 760 m per minute whereasthe double line integrated packaging line of the present invention onlyneeds to run at an average linear operational speed of 380 m per minuteto produce 300 cartons per minute (comprising 4 articles in a 2×2configuration) and 50 tertiary packages (comprising 24 articles). Insummary, the present invention provides a compact and efficient machinehaving a high-throughput yet being less than half the length of anequivalent known machine and able to operate at half the linear runningspeed of known machines without compromising the throughput. Theseadvantages are gained by providing a dual line machine with simultaneousprocessing of two (or more) lanes of articles; a compact (narrow andshort) metering and grouping mechanism that services both lanes ofarticles simultaneously; an auto-loader mechanism that services both thesecondary blank hoppers and the tertiary hopper; an outward conveyordisposed in vertical alignment with the pallet delivery conveyor (toreduce the linear dimension of machine line); a tertiary cartonin-feed/transfer disposed in vertical alignment with the secondarypackage formation (to reduce the linear dimension of machine line) andpositioned such that the tertiary package blanks meet the packagedsecondary articles within only a few carton pitches (preferably one) ofthe completion of the secondary packages; and immediate transfer oftertiary packages to finishing device.

It can be appreciated that various changes may be made within the scopeof the present invention, for example in other embodiments the size andshape of the articles and cartons packaged and style of secondary andtertiary packages will differ from that illustrated herein. In otherembodiments of the invention it is envisaged that the finishing deviceis omitted or in other embodiments where the finishing device ispresent, the finishing process may be other than shrink wrapping.

It is also envisaged that whereas processing on two lines simultaneouslyhas been described, in other embodiments, three incoming lanes orprocessing lanes are provided and each are acted upon simultaneously. Insuch an embodiment the metering device may comprise two dual sectionsand two single sections. Additionally, the in feed of the tertiarypackage in such an embodiment may be disposed between the first andsecond and/or second and third lanes or alternatively, may be alignedwith the end of the second lane such that cartons from the second laneare immediately fed onto the tertiary carton blank and the secondarycartons from the first and third processing lanes are transferred by thetransfer robot onto the tertiary package. However, optimum benefit inreduced complexity is gained by using two processing lines and althoughit is envisaged that more than two processing lines can be used, it willbe understood that the advantage of reducing the linear dimension willbe offset by the necessary increased width of such a packaging machine.

It will be recognised that as used herein, directional references suchas “in”, “end”, “up”, “down”, “side” do not limit the described featureto such orientation, but merely serve to distinguish relativeorientations one another.

1. A packaging machine comprising at least two independent paths uponwhich primary articles to be contained in groups in secondary packagesare conveyable from an infeed end of the packaging machine to anintegral tertiary packaging device whereat secondary packages directlyoutput from each of said two independent paths are merged and combinedwith a tertiary package blank wherein tertiary packages loaded with morethan one secondary package are formed and conveyed along a transfermeans out of said tertiary packaging device travelling at a speedsubstantially the same as the speed of each of the two independent pathsupon which incoming primary articles are disposed.
 2. A packagingmachine according to claim 1 comprising a device for grouping articlesoperable to interact with primary articles disposed on two independentpaths simultaneously.
 3. A packaging machine according to claim 2, thedevice for grouping articles being disposed between said two independentpaths for grouping and metering primary articles conveyed on each of thetwo paths simultaneously, the device comprising spacer elements disposedback-to-back and coupled by a common drive means such that the spacerelements are operable in synchrony on the streams of primary articlesdisposed on said two independent paths.
 4. A packaging machine accordingto claim 1 comprising a transfer conveyor for supplying a tertiarypackage blank to the tertiary packaging device for combination with thesecondary packages being merged, the transfer conveyor having an infeedend disposed above or below a horizontal plane containing said twoindependent paths and being inclined such that an output end of thetransfer conveyor is disposed between and in substantially co-planaralignment with an output end of said two independent paths whereat thesecondary packages are merged and combined with the tertiary packageblank.
 5. A packaging machine according to claim 4 comprising afinishing device disposed upstream of said tertiary packaging device,the finishing device being structured and arranged to receive articlesdirectly output from the tertiary packaging device, and to conveyfinished packages out of said finishing device along a transfer meanstravelling at the same speed as each of the paths upon which incomingprimary articles are disposed.
 6. A packaging machine according to claim1 comprising a means for supply of secondary package blanks to each ofthe two independent paths for combination with the primary articles ofeach of those two independent paths; a means for supply of tertiarypackages for combination with packaged primary articles output from eachof the two independent paths, the means of supply of the tertiarypackage blanks disposed proximate to the means for supply of thesecondary package blanks; and a single loading device operable to load,in turn, secondary package blanks and tertiary package blanks to therespective means for supplying secondary package blanks and tertiarypackage blanks.
 7. A device for grouping articles to be contained by asecondary carton, the device comprising a first series of spacerelements arranged to move along a pre-determined path, each spacerelement operable to engage at least one article from a first infeedstream and to convey articles through a working reach of the device, thedevice further comprising a second series of spacer elements arranged tomove along a similar pre-determined path, each spacer element of thesecond series operable to engage at least one article from a secondinfeed stream of articles, wherein a spacer element of the first seriesof spacer elements is coupled to a spacer element of the second seriesof spacer elements by a drive means such that the coupled spacerelements are conveyed at the same speed.
 8. A device according to claim7 wherein the spacer elements of the first and second series aredisposed back-to-back and operate on separate streams of primaryarticles disposed on separate independent conveyors to synchronise theprocessing of primary articles on said separate independent conveyorssuch that primary articles processed by the device as they are conveyedon each of said separate independent conveyors are similarly grouped andmetered and output from the output end of their respective separateindependent conveyor in synchrony.
 9. A device according to claim 8wherein spacer elements of the first series are coupled to spacerelements of the second series in pairs by means of a common bar and saidpairs of spacer elements structured and arranged to follow a cam-path ofthe device to control and synchronise their journey through the workingreach of the device.
 10. A loading device for supplying articles such asblanks to a machine for processing those articles, the loading devicecomprising a loading mechanism, a first conveyor for supplying palletsloaded with articles; a conveyor for removal of empty pallets and afirst pallet lift wherein the conveyor for supplying pallets loaded witharticles is disposed in substantially parallel alignment with theconveyor for removal of empty pallets such that full pallets aredeliverable as empty pallets are removable.
 11. A loading deviceaccording to claim 10 wherein the loading mechanism is operable to takearticles from the loaded pallet and supply them to one or more in-feedpoints of a packaging machine and wherein the first pallet lift isoperable to move a pallet from the first conveyor for supplying palletsloaded with articles to the conveyor for removal of empty pallets oncethe loading mechanism has taken articles from the loaded pallet.
 12. Aloading device according to claim 11 further comprising a secondconveyor for supplying loaded pallets and a second pallet lift, whereinthe same loading mechanism is also operable to take articles from aloaded pallet on the second conveyor and supply them to another in-feedpoint of a packaging machine and wherein the second pallet lift isoperable to move a pallet from the second conveyor for supplying palletsto the said conveyor for removal of empty pallets, which conveyor forremoval of empty pallets services both the first and second conveyorsfor supplying loaded pallets.